Searching for the Darkness
by RebelzHeart
Summary: The children in Beika are going missing, and Conan suspects that the Black Organization is behind it. But he has no time to investigate, not with the two transfer students, Aoko and Kaito, that are living in the Mouri agency. And to top things off, one of the Detective Boys has gone missing, and the case has suddenly become personal.


**A/N:** I did say that I'd rewrite this, didn't I? AND IT'S UP. HA. Um, yeah. So, a lot will be different, but the basic premise is still the same. Sooo... if I lose inspiration for this, I'll just wait until I get it back, unlike last time.

* * *

 _"Ayumi-chan, was it?" The pretty lady in black smiled sweetly at Ayumi. "Your parents sent me here with a note. I'm here to pick you up and take care of you until they're finished with their business."_

 _Ayumi shuffled slightly, readjusting her backpack straps before murmuring hesitantly, "But my mom and dad said not to go with strangers..."_

 _"I'm not a stranger, dear." The pretty lady laughed, delicately holding a hand over soft pink lips. "I'm your mommy and daddy's friend."_

 _Ayumi shook her head, chewing on her lower lip. "I don't know, miss, I think that I'll wait for..."_

 _"I can call them." The pretty lady said suddenly, holding out her phone. "Will that make you feel better, Ayumi-chan?"_

 _Ayumi's features lit up, and she nodded quickly. If the pretty lady could call her mom and dad, then that would definitely mean that it was okay._

 _The pretty lady held out the phone and Ayumi held it to her ear._

 _Then there was a high pitched ringing sound in her ear, and she barely had time to scream before the pretty lady held her hand and dragged her away from the school._

 _"Stop!" She tried to scream, but no sound came out._

 _"_ This _should get our little detective's attention." She heard the pretty lady laugh, sweet and as pretty as a bell._

 _Little detective?_

 _Could it be? No way..._

 _But still, Ayumi could help but think of him._

 _..._ Conan?

* * *

He wakes to the sound of his alarm ringing and the smell of pancakes, and for a while, Shinichi just lets it ring, and he closes his eyes, pretending for a moment that the past year had all just been a dream and he's back in his house.

But then he hears the clink of beer and ice against glass, smells the air heavy with cigarette smoke, and his alarm has never sounded like _this_.

So, somewhat regretfully, he opens his eyes and turns off his alarm with his heart pounding and ears ringing.

Then he was Conan again, and, slipping on his glasses, he shuffled wearily across his bedroom and stifled a yawn with a fist against his lips. _What I wouldn't give for a cup of coffee,_ he mused, slipping out of his pyjamas and back into his suit.

"Good morning, Conan-kun!" Ran greeted him cheerfully as he dragged himself into the kitchen. "I made pancakes this morning, your favorite!"

Conan lit up even as Kogoro grumbled something unintelligible about why Ran never made pancakes for him but did so when the brat was here, and quickly clapped his hands together. "Ah, Ran-neechan, you're the best!" He cheered, ignoring the small churning in his chest that wondered whether it was a good thing or not that he had begun to call her neechan so naturally now.

 _When I'm back to normal..._ he shoved the thought to the back of his mind, an unfriendly reminder that this peacefulness was merely an illusion.

Ran laughed and reached out to ruffle his hair. "You're just saying that because I make you yummy food." She answered teasingly, voice light enough to show that she didn't really believe that.

"Nooo..." Conan pouted, crossing his arms over his chest for a moment before adding teasingly, "You buy me toys, too."

"Brat." Ran sniffed, though the way that she burst into laughter only seconds later took out any possible sting from her words. "So, did you need me to double check your homework this morning?"

"No, it's fine." Conan paused, and then frowned, raising an eyebrow as he demanded, "Why are you up so early, Ran-neechan? Your karate tournament went on _reeeally_ late last night! You should be sleeping!"

Ran, as though just to prove him right, stifled a yawn. "I'm fine." She responded, somewhat unconvincingly, though her bright smile seemed enough to pull some of the worried tension from Conan's shoulders. "I'm older, so I don't need as much sleep."

 _Even factoring that in, you_ still _haven't gotten enough sleep,_ Conan thought unhappily, but knew that he couldn't comment. So instead, he picked up a piece of pancake and shoved it in his mouth. "Did you win?" He asked curiously, mustering up enough enthusiasm that he managed to mirror Ran's smile.

"Yep!" Ran relaxed into a simple stance, and punched the air twice, pride swelling up in her chest and her smile glowing even wider with each word. "I totally wiped the floor with them!"

"Awesome!" Conan cheered, applauding her quick little performance.

"Totally!" Ran agreed cheerfully, before seeming to remember that she couldn't simply teach Conan such things, and reminding him that, "But winning isn't everything. It's just about growing as a person, and having fun."

 _I know, Ran._ Shinichi groused grumpily.

"I know, Ran-neechan!" Conan chirped cheerfully. "And we always have to be fair and square, and if someone does win, that just proves how hard they worked and marks their progress!"

Ran ruffled his hair again, and Conan quickly smoothed it down, trying to scowl at her, but ending up pouting childishly at her. "That's right, Conan-kun." She responded, as sweet as honey yet unable to keep the smugness of winning from lighting a smile on her face. "So, what did you do at home yesterday?"

 _Stole your homework and went through some questions._

 _"_ I did my homework."

 _Technically, it should be mine, so I am telling the truth... sort of._

"I know _that_ , Conan-kun." Ran's voice was a strange mix of amusement and complete fondness that probably should have made him laugh but just made him wish that he could hear that voice as Shinichi again (instead of the constant worry and fear whenever they called each other). "What _else_ did you do?"

 _I watched a few college lectures on human psychology._

He scrunched up his features, trying to figure out some way to make that into a half truth. "I learned about super cool detective stuff!" He cheered, waving his hands wildly and quickly drawing them back when he thought about the last time that he had smashed his arm into something in the kitchen.

(That had been when he was full sized, though, and he supposed he ought to count his lack of bumping into things as a pro of being small, but it merely brought forth the thought that he would have been happy for it, if only he could be his proper size once more.)

He could see the way that Ran's grin falter, and he barely had time to think _nononomistaketakeitback_ before that stupid smile was back on her face, a bit too wide and too cheerful, and she asked with genuine curiosity, "What did you learn, Conan-kun?"

He really didn't deserve her. "Lots and lots!" He waved his hands wildly in the air. "Like, some bad guys could have been good guys but then something bad happens and then they _become_ bad guys, which is super sad and bad so there are people who help bad guys be good guys again, isn't that cool?"

"Very cool!" Ran enthused, bright as the sun and completely happy for him. "So, it's like someone cast a meanie spell on them?"

"Exactly!" Conan cheered, nodding enthusiastically and channeling his inner Ayumi. "I was really confused, but then I did what my teacher said to do and I read it out loud with my mouth and then it made more sense and I was like WHOOOAAAA!"

Ran giggled, setting out a plate of pancakes for herself and pouring on some syrup before agreeing, "That sounds really interesting! Do you think that you would want to be someone who helps turn bad guys into good guys again?"

Conan wrinkled his nose, knowing that as a child, he ought to agree, but... "No way! I'm going to become the most awesomest detective ever!"

"The most awesomest detective ever, hm?" Ran held back a snicker, and spread out her syrup with their butter knife. "I see! It's a good thing that we live at a detective agency, hm?" She paused, and chewed a piece of pancake, swallowing before adding optimistically, "Maybe the transfer students coming over will like mysteries, too."

Conan raised his eyebrows, surprise flooding his features as he echoed, "Transfer students?"

"Oh!" Ran clapped her hands together, shaking her head with a slight smile before admitting sheepishly, "I must have forgotten to tell you. Our school is having a transfer program right now. One boy and one girl will exchange schools, and they're supposed to live with the family of the person that they traded places with. But it just so happens that the family of the girl that was transferring from our school decided to go on vacation while she was gone, so I offered our house instead."

"Oh, so I'll have another neechan?" Conan blinked innocently, tilting his head to the side. _Here's to hoping that she doesn't interfere with my investigations..._

"Another niichan, too." Ran admitted, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck.

 _What? I knew that Ran was generous, but this is at another level._ "Why doesn't the niichan go to the family of the other niichan?" Conan asked, eyebrows drawing together as he tilted his head to the side.

"The other niichan's family can't take him in right now," Ran said, soft and sympathetic, which Conan took to mean _they have financial issues_. "And nobody else really wanted to do it, so I insisted."

"More brats?" Kogoro spluttered, seeming to have just realized the weight of the implications. "I have to take care of even _more_ little ankle biters?"

" _Dad_!" Ran scowled, and pressed her hands against her hips. "They're my age, and they'll take care of themselves just fine. We just need to provide some food and bed, is all."

Kogoro snorted, nose wrinkling as he muttered sourly, "Sounds like a lot of work."

"It's okay!" Conan chirped, equally irritated at the prospect of _more_ people that he had to pretend around, but unable to resist antagonizing Kogoro. "You're super smart, so you can just take on twice as many cases, right, Uncle?"

"You little brat, I don't have the time...!"

"But you're a supergenius, aren't you?" Conan leaned closer to Kogoro, smiling smugly. "Aren't you superamazing? Can't you handle something as small as this?"

Kogoro instantly started bragging and laughing about how amazing he was, though when the adrenaline wore off, Conan could still hear him muttering about _damn brat who doesn't understand anything..._

 _Transfer students._ Conan sighed, tipping his head back and closing his eyes. _With my luck, one of them will be a criminal or something_.

* * *

"Late night, Kaito?" Readjusting the cuffs of his uniform, Hakuba raised an eyebrow, a smug smile pulling at his lips as he asked, "Preparing, perhaps, for your heist tonight?"

"Maybe you're to stupid to understand this," Kaito responded, rolling his eyes and sticking out his tongue childishly, "But I'm not the awesome KID-sama." He paused, and added with a snicker, "But I can see that you can understand that both KID and I are more awesomer than you."

Hakuba raised an eyebrow, unimpressed as he retorted, "Weak denials aside, 'more awesomer' is grammatically incorrect."

"You're grammatically incorrect." Kaito grumbled sourly, crossing his arms over his chest and jutting his chin out unhappily.

Hakuba leveled him with an unimpressed stare. "That doesn't even make sense."

"You don't make sense." Kaito grumbled, unable to come up with anything wittier than a childish retort.

"At least I make more sense than you," Hakuba retorted, unconsciously beginning to slip down to Kaito's level.

"Well, at least _I_..."

"That's enough!" A sharp voice cut into their conversation, and Aoko scowled at the both of them. "Honestly, when will you start to get along with each other?"

"Never." Kaito sulked, making one last face at Hakuba before turning back to Aoko. "Have you _met_ this guy? He's literally just a ball of annoying annoying-ness."

"Do yourself a favor," Hakuba's voice was smooth and monotonous as he brushed the front of his uniform, "And stop talking."

"I'm show you not talking...!"

" _Boys_." Aoko repeated sharply, eyes flashing. At their silence, she smiled sweetly and clapped her hands together, "Isn't it nice when we all get along nicely?"

Kaito scowled, resting his chin on the palm of his hand as he sniped, "Ahoko, we're not getting along nicely, I'm just stunned at your show of manliness. Are you finally beginning to embrace your inner Dwayne Johnson?"

Aoko pulled out a mop, threateningly waving it around as she muttered sourly under her breath, " _I'll show you an inner Dwayne Johnson..._ "

It appeared that Kaito's childish way of insulting others was infectious.

They played at a chase for a while, Aoko screaming and Kaito laughing as he pretended to take picture of her red face (though Hakuba knew from the way that his fingers moved that he was definitely _not_ taking pictures), until Kaito seemed to tire and suddenly stopped.

"That's enough, Ahoko." He smiled brightly, not showing the slightest sign of being winded.

" _We'll be done when I..._ " Aoko's aggravated snarl was cut off when Kaito leaned forwards to tap a finger against the tip of her broom. Smoke startled to hiss from the wood before it covered the broom completely and it vanished, replaced by a bouquet of bright blue flowers.

"Beautiful flowers for the beautiful lady." Kaito said sweetly, holding out a hand and making a fist, a pale navy rose appearing when his fingers uncurled from the palm of his hand. He leaned forwards to tuck the flower in Aoko's hair, another puff of smoke, and there was a long braid curling over Aoko's temple, pinned in place by the rose.

Aoko turned bright red. "Kaito, what are you..."

Kaito seemed to realize what he had just done and flushed bright red for a moment (so fleeting that Hakuba almost thought that he had imagined it) and then he tacked on, smirking teasingly, "Oh, wait, you're not a beautiful lady, you're the manliest of men."

"Kai _tooouuuu_...!"

And the chase was on again.

Akako watched with a slightly fond smile, and Hakuba couldn't help but despise the way that his chest instantly felt tight and his face turned red when he looked at her. "How difficult would it be," She mused, curious and as sweet as the flower still pinned into Aoko's hair, "When they have to live together?"

"Could it be that you're referring to the transfer student program?" Hakuba forced his voice to stay calm despite the way that his mind was hazing over with the overwhelming thought that Akako was beautiful.

Akako stared at him for a moment, that strange half smile still gracing her lips before she laughed and agreed, "It will be interesting, wouldn't it?"

 _Interesting,_ Hakuba reflected, _does not do the situation justice._

But he didn't need to be thinking of that.

After all, Kaitou KID had a heist tonight.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hakuba is so hard to write. He's just so socially awkward, and he doesn't know what to say, and he's a bit of a flirt but he's not that interested in girls, and he's a genius but he doesn't understand people and just... pfwijewogjaowegijsvd.


End file.
